Q Mr. President, "George Bush" is probably the best name a man
can carry to Berlin --

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, well, thank you.

Q -- given the achievements of your father, especially. But
still, the city, right now, even as we speak, is bracing, expecting
huge demonstrations. And the largest police force in the history of
the city has been mobilized to protect you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q Not only against terrorism -- yes, I guess. It is not only
about the terror threat, which of course is on everybody's mind.

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q But also, thousands of demonstrators of all colors, more than
ever before. Have you been made aware of that?

THE PRESIDENT: No. I -- but that's good. That's democracy.
See, I love to visit a place that is confident in her freedom, a place
where people feel free to express themselves, because that's what I
believe in.

And so I'm looking forward to my visit. I'm going to have a great
visit with the Chancellor. I'll be at the Bundestag, and I look
forward to a speech there that talks about the importance of our
relationship -- that is, the relationship between Germany and America
-- and what we can do together.

I'm anxious -- I've never been to Germany, so I'm anxious to go,
and I'm looking forward to it.

Q It's too bad that the President never gets to really see a
city like Berlin.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q There's always this security around.

THE PRESIDENT: The bubble.

Q Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: That's true. And that's part of my life, that's
part of the -- that's one of the drawbacks of being the President.
You really are encapsulated into a bubble, whether it be in Germany or
in America, for that matter.

Q There is, beyond the demonstrations and beyond the people who
show up everyplace just to cause havoc, there is a mood in Germany
right now, pervasive among decent people, who are concerned about an
America that more and more seems to stand in many important questions
outside the global consensus, from the Kyoto agreement to the
International Criminal Court to Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, military
options versus Iraq, all these questions.

My question to you, is your government really still part of that
global family? Or is it more America looks for coalitions of the
willing, meaning if you go with us, fine; if you don't, we find
somebody else or we go it alone?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's a very complicated question. Let me
just tell you this: I'm coming to Germany to say that together we can
work to achieve peace. And we must work together to achieve peace.

I'm going to talk about a NATO, the idea of expanding NATO to help
achieve peace. I'm going to reaffirm those institutions that are
important, where we can cooperate.

I am -- listen, I believe in alliances. I know America can't win
the war on terror alone. I understand there's some reluctance about
some of the positions I take. But one of the things that the German
people at least ought to respect is I speak my mind. There's no doubt
where I stand.

And I remember when Ronald Reagan came to Germany, he said, "Mr.
Gorbachev, tear down" the whole wall. He didn't say tear down a couple
of bricks. He said tear the whole thing down. And I guess I tend to
speak that way, too.

But the German people will know, if they listen to my speech, that
I care deeply for the alliance and friendship we have with the German
people. And I believe together we can do a lot of good in the world.

Q Iraq is an issue very much on everybody's mind in this
context. Your government seems to be determined to end the regime of
Saddam Hussein, by any means necessary. This seems to include military
options. Is there any way that this man, this dictator, can address
your concerns and stay in power? Or are we drifting towards a war?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, let me say this, that Iraq ought to be
on the minds of the German people, and they ought to be on the minds of
the American people. Because the Iraq government is a dangerous
government. Iraq ought to be center piece in our thinking.

This is a government that's gassed its own people. This is a
government that is not transparent. And this is a government we know
wants to develop weapons of mass destruction. They may have weapons of
mass destruction; we just don't know. This is a dangerous regime.

And for the good of freedom, and for the good of our future, we've
got to deal with it.

Q One way or the other?

THE PRESIDENT: One way or the other, absolutely.

Now, I'm not going to -- I have no military plans on my desk that
calls for -- that plots out a military operation. I'm looking at all
options. And of course, I'll consult closely with our allies and
friends. I look forward to talking this subject with the Chancellor of
Germany. I will be very blunt in my assessment of his -- "his" being
Saddam Hussein's -- threat to the freedom of the world.

But this is a threat that we better take seriously. And we better
take it seriously now.

Q One question about September 11th.

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q I don't care about this Washington second-guessing game. This
is really not what I'm getting to.

We have pictures of your travel pool on Air Force One looking in
horror at this little flat screen, which was back in the plane, seeing
the second tower collapse.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q I wondered what was going on at about that time in the front
of the plane?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thanks for asking. First of all, I learned
about the attack -- the second attack; I knew about the first attack
when I walked into a schoolroom. I thought it was an accident. And
I'm listening to an education briefing, and Andy Card, my Chief of
Staff, whispered in my ear, he said, "America's under attack. There's
been a second plane crash; America is under attack."

I made up my mind right then and there that if somebody was
attacking us, we would respond with the full might of America.

Q But there was little you could do at that moment, in that
plane.

THE PRESIDENT: At that moment, no, there wasn't. You're right. I
mean, I was trying to get out of harm's way. We were concerned about
threats on the President. We were worried about future attacks, and
there's a lot of belief that Flight 93 was headed to the White House.

I was concerned about things like is my wife safe? You know, I was
worried about that. I was worried about things such as my parents. I
was worried about my girls. And that's what I was concerned -- I was
worried about Americans who were grieving.

But at the same time, you need to know about me that I was also
thinking clearly about how to respond. If America is under attack, my
job as the President is to protect the homeland, to find out the facts,
and to deal with it in a firm way.

I want to thank the German people and the German government, not
only for their sympathy, but for understanding the new war of the 21st
century. And we have a new war. And we'd better deal with it, because
this is an evil group of people that are interested in destroying
civilization. And so long as I'm the President, I'm going to do
everything I can to prevent that from happening.